The secret to writing better than you are capable of writing

Are you struggling to write? Or have you given up on writing altogether?—lost hope? walked away?

If so, you’re not alone. We all get discouraged from time to time, but author Bob Hostetler has a remedy for us.

In his blog post, “Your First Writing Assignment,” Bob tells of his own experience—getting burnt out on writing. Undone.

But then—and I’m sure it was a God-thing—he got a writing assignment that required him to pray—and it was prayer that refueled him and saved his writing ministry.

“I pray before I write. I pray while I write. And then I pray after I write that God will even further transform my offering through the work of godly publishers, editors, designers, artists. . . .

“I pray, not to change God or others but to change me. I pray for wisdom to manage my time wisely, for discipline to apply my mind to my writing and my butt to the chair. . . . For some writing projects, I’ve assembled a prayer team to support my writing with their prayers. . . .”

Bob encourages all of us to “ . . . make prayer your first writing assignment every day. Before you sharpen your pencil or turn on your computer, before you outline, before you jump into a writing exercise or research task, pray.

“Whatever it takes,” he says, “if prayer is not your first writing assignment every day . . . you’re cheating yourself, your readers, your editors, and even God, who will partner with you in your writing . . . for the asking.”

You’ll be inspired by Bob’s post, “Your First Writing Assignment.” It will take only a minute or two to read it, and it will be well worth your time.

Prayer revolutionized Bob’s writing—

it could revolutionize yours, too.